An Involuntary and Unexpected Treatment of Nutcracker Esophagus

A 76-year-old woman complained of painful dysphagia and loss of weight. Esophagoscopy results were negative, whereas computed tomography (CT) disclosed a 25-mm mediastinal tumor without a connection to the esophagus. A diagnosis of nutcracker esophagus was made on high-resolution esophageal manometry. Peroral endoscopic esophageal myotomy failed to improve the symptoms. Right video thoracoscopy allowed resection of the tumor, which looked like a neurogenic tumor of the posterior mediastinum that developed from the right vagus nerve. The patient's dysphagia dramatically improved postoperatively. Because the pathologic examination disclosed a benign solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura, we hypothesize that the motility disorder would have been resolved by the unilateral vagotomy.